


Until then, well... there's always the view.

by Lithiumstars



Category: Half-Life VR But The AI Is Self Aware, Subnautica (Video Game)
Genre: Animal Death, Author is incredibly knowledgeable about subnautica I apologise in advance, Blood, Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Horror, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, HLVRAI, Hurt/Comfort, I wrote the first chapter at 4am sorry, Kharaa Bacterium (Subnautica), M/M, Needles, Pining, Slow Burn, Subnautica AU, Subnautica Spoilers, Survivor Guilt, They/Them Pronouns for Bubby (Half-Life), They/Themrey, just a little, none of them are neurotypical just thought i'd mention, they're all human but it's a loose definition of human
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-29
Updated: 2020-09-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:07:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 16,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24974335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lithiumstars/pseuds/Lithiumstars
Summary: His degree didn't prepare him for this. Stranded on 4546B, his PDA spouting about some bacterial infection, and a habitat-mate who he's sure was a stowaway, Gordon Freeman decides he hates the ocean.Hlvrai subnautica au
Relationships: Benrey/Gordon Freeman, Benrey/Tommy Coolatta, Benrey/Tommy Coolatta/Gordon Freeman, Bubby/Dr. Coomer (Half-Life), Tommy Coolatta/Gordon Freeman
Comments: 107
Kudos: 478





	1. Crash Site

Fire. The alarm system blared, the cold voice of the ship's machinery wailing over the screams of its passengers. Another explosion. Gordon felt himself be thrown against the titanium walls, the heat bubbling beneath it like electricity to his bare hands. The automated voice rang out again, muffled by the hatch of the lifepod as he pulled it shut, sliding down the ladder. The metal that greeted his feet was hard, sending a shock of pain up his shins as he slid into the chair.

As quickly as he could, Gordon settled himself, planting his hand on the interface that would jettison the lifepod, and he waited. It took a second, but that second, while a ship tore to pieces around him; while the echoes of crewmates haunted his senses; while he thought about his son; seemed to last forever.

The lifepod jettisoned. The sudden change in gravity dug him into the chair, pressure forcing him into the walls. He risked a look up, through the hatch, seeing nothing but sparks and debris. 

He heard the preshock of the next explosion, this one catastrophic, tearing the ship apart in front of his eyes. He started shaking, the lifepod started shaking, as the shockwaves crashed against it. The chair opposite him shook violently, the straps dancing. He should have grabbed someone else. That empty seat was a life he didn't save. Metal clanging caught his attention, eyes flicking to the left, a panel leaning off of its designation. The lifepod didn't stop shaking, its travel rocked by atmospheric pressure. Gordon watched as the panel came apart from its place, unable to to anything but hope it wasn't holding in something vital. It ripped away as a loud shock boomed above, slamming against the side of the lifepod before bouncing back. Gordon flinched, holding his breath.

The panel spun once, twice, ricocheting off of the fabricator, and launched directly towards his head.

His senses come back one at a time. Touch first, the sensation of heat lapping at his legs and something running down his face. Smell and taste next, the bitterness of smoke overwhelming his senses. Sound and sight are the last, both muffled and blurry, as his head lolls up, eyes blinking open to the warm orange light of the burning electrical fire in front of him.

"Shit." Repeated in his mind as he regained the use of his body, fist jamming into the interface to unlock his restraints. It resisted, squealing out a series of harsh beeps before the belt finally retracted. Gordon stood up far too fast, swaying uneasily, smoke filling his lungs and clouding his vision. He coughed, covering his mouth as he stepped away from the blaze, other hand finding purchase on the wall behind him. A static shock forced him away, the radio behind him dented and sparking. Eyes scanning the floor, he caught the bright red of the fire extinguisher, ducking to grab it from between the rungs of the ladder.

His hands weren't all there yet, Gordon found as he struggled to unclasp the extinguisher. The heat was getting unbearable, lightheadedness threatening to pull him to the floor to lay with the fire, to join his crew. It clicked after a tense moment, and he gripped the trigger as hard as possible, the compressed carbon dioxide hissing out to control the fire. He held it out for longer than he needed to, heaving deep breaths.

The fire safely put out, Gordon dropped the fire extinguisher, the faux ceramic clanking harshly against the floor of the lifepod. He collapsed into the chair, hands pulling knots through his hair, freeing bundles of stray brown from the ponytail. Lungs burning, Gordon forced himself up, slowly ascended the ladder and pushed up the latch, the whistle of fresh air, heavy with salt, was a welcome respite from the stuffy, ashen air of the lifepod. He pulled himself up, arms outstretched to reach the rungs of the outer ladder, perching on top of the lifepod.

The hatch sealed behind him. Ocean, endless blue, stretched out as far as he could see. They weren't even headed for this planet. His ship, the Aurora, the hull that had been his, and dozens of others', home for the past few months, sat half submerged in the distance. Great plumes of smoke drifted from its exterior, chunks missing, distant fires raging on its exposed interiors. 

Gordon inhaled, wrung his hands together and clenched his jaw. He then proceeded to scream, a guttural, wracked scream, hands shaking either side of his head as he held them back. He blinked out tears, curling up, bringing his knees up to his face and burying his head between them.

He couldn't see any other lifepods. The aurora had enough to safely evacuate all of its crew. Had they been destroyed in the blast? Was his the only one that jettisoned? Had the rest sank?  
Gordon's chest hurt and he shut his eyes.

He was alone, in an ocean that seemed to stretch forever, with a useless degree and a busted PDA he'd never gotten fixed.


	2. Safe Shallows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> thank u all so much for the comments i just,, i wanna print em out and frame them youre so lovely

The sounds of the waves gently lapping over the buoyant cushions should have been calming. Gordon had often found himself immersing himself in the sounds of oceans on nights where sleep escaped him. Here though, the fizzle of foam reminded him how trapped he was, sat atop a lifepod. He’d have to descend into the water eventually, any food rations contained within the lifepods cooler would only last him so long, and he’d rather not starve to death. 

He shifted his feet, resting them against the top rung of the ladder, and steeled himself. One step at a time, Gordon lowered himself into the water. It was surprisingly warm, not uncomfortably cold like he had expected. It was pleasant, he admitted, lingering at the waistline. He pinched his nose, took a deep breath, and let himself sink the rest of the way. 

It was bright. The sand and rock beneath was a chalky brown, rich with pale green seagrass and deep purple fans. Around the pillars of rock twisted giant tubes of coral, hollow crags filled with what appeared to be mushrooms, gently bioluminescent out of the direct rays of the sun. A bubble to Gordon’s left startled him, a single fish darting past, a trail of gold behind it. It was quite large, easily the size of his head; a thin, dark blue creature with bright yellow eyes that took up the majority of its body. 

Beyond that, a shoal of another species floated idly by with thin, salmon bodies and large air sacs either side. He blinked, the salt stinging his eyes, before surfacing again. His PDA, clipped to his waist, had booted up. He paddled back to the lifepod, looping an arm around the ladder while he brought it up to look at its screen. It was damaged, a thin crack snaking its way down the center, and the power button was busted. The Alterra logo displayed, accompanied by a distorted jingle, as it came to life. 

"You have suffered minor head trauma," the robotic voice said, "this is considered an optimal outcome. This PDA has now rebooted in emergency mode with one directive: to keep you alive on an alien world.”  
Gordon stared at the screen, deadpan, his now spare hand coming up to touch his head, fingers grazing over a thick gash. It was mostly dry, scabbed shut with a small seep of blood that trickled down his forehead. He hoped the water would wash it off. He could hear the insides of the PDA whirring as it performed its start-up.  
"The Aurora suffered orbital hull failure. Cause: unknown. Zero human life signs detected."

“Zero,” Gordon repeated, voice wavering.

The PDA finished its process, the screen opening on a grid of pictures, blueprints, the header read. A repair tool was highlighted, blinking yellow in the top row. Gordon squinted at it, tapping the icon with a shaking finger. He read over the components listed, silicon rubber, titanium and cave sulfur. Where was he supposed to get raw titanium, let alone rubber. 

Gordon flicked through the other tabs, scanning the small number of entries listed in the databank. He’d have to scavenge for materials, think of ways to use the local fauna and flora to his advantage while he waited for the rescue ship. Which there had to be. Alterra wouldn’t abandon any potential survivors. Gordon clipped the PDA back to his hip, inhaled deeply, and dove into the water again.

A chunk of metal sat heavy on the seafloor not too far away, and he recognised it as a scrap of the hull, charred metal bearing the worn insignia of Alterra. Titanium, he had to stop himself from saying out loud, almost swallowing water as he opened his mouth. He kicked towards it, skin catching on the frayed edges, and pulled it up to the lifepod, pulling himself through the airtight seal on the underside instead of hauling the salvage up the ladder.

The fabricator opened up on his arrival, a short beep as it connected to his PDA. He lifted the screen, surveying the new interface, and jabbed at the button that read ‘titanium’ with his thumb.

The kelp forests were beautiful, Gordon had to admit, swimming between the thick stalks and tapering leaves. The water was thick with life, the local biome lush enough to support a predator, a shark-like fish, long and blue with large, numerous, and very large, teeth running down its long snout. Gordon steered clear of them, flinching whenever one screeched or snapped its jaws shut. He’d plucked a cluster of seeds from the bundle of vines closest to the lifepod, wary of the stalking sharks further in. The seeds contained small amounts of silicon, which the fabricator could collect and condense into rubber. Gordon set it aside next to the titanium, looking up through the hatch at the dimming light in the sky. 

Gordon surfaced, gasping for breath, arms flailing to keep him afloat. His chest ached, a dull thrumming compared to the sharp pain in his legs. He crawled towards the lifepod, swimming with one hand, the other clutched tight around its prize, legs unresponsive. He’d found cave sulfur, a metallic powder formed between the leaves of a strange nest-like plant. Unfortunately, Gordon thought, struggling to pull himself through the underside hatch, the sulfur plants appeared to have a relationship with a small, ball shaped fish that chased him until it exploded.

Standing hurt, so he took to sitting on the rungs of the ladder, gathering the resources, and letting the fabricator work, selecting the repair tool on the PDA. The steady hum was a nice noise, the crackles of electricity as the tool constructed. Gordon stood up shakily, leaning on the ladder and shook the remaining static from his legs. The repair tool was light in his hand.

He pointed it at the panel first, the exposed wiring half melted and course, the tip of the tool whirring with its fabrication tech, restoring the wires and pulling the panel (the one that had given him brain damage, he noted) back onto the wall. A loud suction noise made him jump, the fans activating as the lifepods systems came fully online. The air cleared, the smell of salt replacing the ash and dank that had settled since the fire. The lights switched on, a welcome relief from the darkness outside. His PDA lit up from where it had been set on the floor.

Gordon looked up, eyes settling on the radio. He lifted the repair tool again, the whirring hum accompanied by the sudden flickering of the radio light. It stopped flickering as the repair ended, the red light staying on. Gordon flicked the switch. Loud static erupted, whining as it connected. An automated voice, which seemed to be a function every Alterra installation required, announced it was online, before fading to static again, though Gordon could just make out the words as it began broadcasting a distress signal.  
“One new message.” It spoke again, without static interruption.  
Gordon sighed, flicking the switch again.

“Yooo. Th- This shit’s wack. Uh. My pod sank real deep, like real deeeep bro. Gonna need some assistance, stat. Fuckin, uh, dumbass fish keep knocking into it too. Bring a knife or something- ah, actually bring two, I want-”  
The voice cut off.  
“Coordinates received.” Relayed his PDA. Gordon sank to the floor, took a deep breath, and let his head fall backwards into the ladder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo im llithiumstars on tumblr if you wanna talk abt this au with me!!  
>  also admission subnautica is my special interest so if I talk too much abt that and not the actual fic I'm so sorry dhdhdh


	3. Grassy Plateaus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gordon (Gavin) rambles about Reefbacks too much and nearly forgets what he was meant to do.

Gordon had managed to put together a seaglide. It was a welcome relief, the swimming starting to put his arms in a constant ache. The coordinates put the other survivor at just over 150m down. He hated to delay the rescue, hated knowing that every scrap of titanium he collected could mean their death, but he also knew going unprepared would end with two casualties. They could wait a little longer. He climbed the ladder, seaglide tucked under one arm, the spare oxygen tank tied around his hip, and held up his PDA, checking the direction one more time.

Gordon took a deep breath, pulled the mouthpiece of his own oxygen tank over his shoulder, and dove into the water, seaglide outstretched. It was the early morning, visibility in the shallows at its clearest. He passed through those quickly though, over the steep drop-offs and into the deeper plains. 

Red grass swished about far, far below him, interrupted by huge sandstone pillars that stretched up, eroded smooth by the currents. Some were topped with ‘floating’ chunks of stone, kept afloat by strange pink creatures, filled with gas. The plains were also the home of the largest creature Gordon had ever seen. The lifepods analysis of the planet had warned him of leviathan class lifeforms, but to actually see one was a far different experience. The Reefbacks, great beasts, which Gordon would describe as a strange mix between a turtle and a whale, the thick carapace of the former and the size and grace of the latter. It would propel itself through the water with a set of three large tentacles and siphons on its underbelly. Each, they appeared to travel in herds (the sizes indicating a possible family group?), had, well, a reef growing on it’s back, hence the name Gordon gave them. Plantlife grew rich on the old chitin, a symbiotic relationship it seemed, as they would draw in the plankton and small fish that the animal would consume. Nature at its finest, Gordon thought.

Checking his PDA again, Gordon had nearly overshot the sunken lifepods location, lost in thought about the herd of megafauna a few hundred metres ahead of him. It was below him. Over 150m deep. He was sure he had enough oxygen to get down there, but if he had enough to get back up would be the issue. The spare tank banged against his leg, knocked by a Holefish which scrambled to keep up with its shoal. It was to give to the survivor. But, and while Gordon hated the thought, it was possible that they had left their lifepod, or even perished, in the time it had taken him to get to this point. Either way, he had to check. If they had died, he could at least find their PDA or some remains, make sure they had a proper sendoff. 

Gordon shook his head, clenching his fists. They’d be alive, and he’d get them back to his lifepod, and they’d survive together. He couldn’t make out the lifepod from the surface. Gordon steeled himself and kicked his way under. The waves were a little choppier out here in the open, currents pushing and pulling in the emptier plains. The seaglide helped, pulling him through it, but he knew he’d never be going in a straight line. He had plenty of time left.  
The display in his goggles said 30m. He had plenty of time.

The lifepod came into view. It was wedged between two steep cliffs, suspended in the crevice. A large 7 sat on its side, the red boldly visible in the water. 50m. Gordon noticed the unusually numerous shoals that surrounded the pod. It would be a coincidence, or perhaps the natural crevice provided a safe feeding site for the smaller fish, inaccessible to the larger predators. They were herbivores anyway, it wouldn’t make sense for them to crowd around remains, Gordon reasoned, taking a far too deep breath from the tank. He couldn’t panic. 

70m. Gordon’s chest felt tight. The pressure was already building, breathing was starting to take more energy than it should. The lights of the lifepod were still on. He should have brought water with him, if they couldn’t leave the pod they’d surely be out of rations by now. 90m. The water felt thicker around him. 100m. Gordon could feel his lungs ache with each inhale. He had enough time. 

The display read 120m when the top hatch of the lifepod shifted, releasing a small ring of bubbles into the water. He stilled for a moment, blinked away the fear of the unknown, and kept moving deeper, kicking stronger towards the sign of life. He tucked the seaglide between his legs, planting his feet on the roof of the lifepod, and pulled at the hatch. The water pressure was keeping it shut, which it was designed to do, he supposed, but a terrible fate for its inhabitant in this situation. He felt a give, the water hissing through the small gap before the hatch sprung open, large bubbles smacking against his goggles. He could see the survivor back up against the wall of the lifepod through the rushing water. All Gordon could do was wait for the pressure to equalise, only then would he be able to pull them out and towards the surface. It felt awful, those moments, watching the water rise and fill the lifepod. As it reached the hatch, Gordon outstretched a hand, seaglide in the other. He felt a hand in his, and kicked away from the lifepod.

He guided their hands to the seaglide, passing them the oxygen tank as the propeller struggled to drag the two of them to the surface. He would help soon, he had fins after all, the survivor, well, they weren’t even in uniform. Eyes shut tight in the salt water, they were wearing a button up shirt and slacks, an armoured vest clasped over the top, and a thick security helmet, but not one used by Alterra. No sign of a protective suit beneath their clothes. They gripped the seaglide’s handles tight, and Gordon let go, choosing to instead loop the clip of the oxygen tank around their waist, holding up the mouthpiece for them. With their eyes shut, (and he could barely see their face, a dark shadow cast by the brim of the helmet), he knew they couldn’t see it, and hoped that they trusted him enough for the intrusion as he pressed it against their face. He felt the flinch, spotted all too sharp teeth as they bit down on it, gasping in a shaky breath. 60m. They had enough time.

Gordon spat out the mouthpiece as he breached the surface, gasping in the fresh air. His chest hurt, bad, and he reveled in the cold breeze for a second, turning to face his new companion as they too surfaced, leaning on the seaglide, exhausted. Gordon paddled towards them, draping a hand over the floating seaglide. They nudged their cheek, dislodging the mouthpiece, and, much to Gordon’s surprise, cackled. A loud, raucous laugh, knocking their helmet against the seaglide. Gordon couldn’t suppress the smile it brought him, to hear another person, especially a laugh, and laughed too, raspy but genuine.

They looked up, the shadow lifting slightly, and Gordon finally got a look at them. Their skin was pale, ghostly even, and their face was thin and bony. Not gaunt, just pronounced, with deep set eyes that he swore glowed faintly in the shade.   
“Holy shit,” they said, coughing lightly, “Saved my life, dude, what’s uh- where’s your PDA, what’s your name, bro?”   
Gordon laughed as they popped the ‘b’ in bro, still evening out his breathing.   
“Gordon Freeman, good to meet you.”   
“Nah nah, you gotta- gotta show me your identification.”  
“When we get back to the lifepod, okay? Now is,” he trailed off, looking up towards the lifepod in the distance, “We should focus on that first, yeah?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the lovely comments!! I read them all,, hoard them like a dragon.


	4. Kelp Forests

The swim back was had in a relatively comfortable silence. Was Gordon thinking about the survivor's clothing, brain running theories at a mile a minute? Yes. Was he voicing these? Absolutely not. Why were they in regular clothes? Even the captain wore a jumpsuit under his designations- it was standard procedure. Perhaps they thought themself the exception, unknownst to an imminent crash. They wouldn’t have known. No-one did, it seemed.

Gordon allowed them through the hatch first, resting his arm on the lifepod to give them the extra height to climb through. Their boots were sodden, slacks dragging against their legs, just soaked from head to toe. He checked the storage compartment, digging out a bottle of filtered water and some fiber mesh he’d made spare, activating the PDA with one hand as he handed the bottle to the other wordlessly. The fabricator opened, Gordon feeding it the materials to create a divesuit, and, from his peripheral, he watched confused as the passenger bit down on the cap of the bottle with an audible clack. 

“You-,” Gordon paused, turning to face them, “You gotta take the lid off.”  
They looked at him, puzzled, before unscrewing the cap and sipping from it, like they hadn’t been gnawing on it like a teething dog beforehand. The fabrication finished, not that Gordon noticed, totally entranced by the bewildering behaviour exhibited by this person.  
“What’s your name?” he asked. They looked up, meeting his eyes through the goggles, (and their eyes absolutely cast a faint light on the underside brim of their helmet).  
“You got credentials? Gotta, uh, gotta know who you are first.”  
Gordon sighed, expecting that, and handed them his PDA. They flicked through it for a moment, attempting to find the right tab, he hoped, and the increasing displeased look on their face clued him that maybe something might be wrong. 

“Your thing’s corrupted,” they said, deadpan, holding up the PDA so that he could see the screen. Sure enough, the page wouldn’t load, flickering between the menu and a glitched format that vaguely resembled the identification page.  
“So now what?” Gordon took back the PDA, knocking against the screen in the hopes that a little roughhousing might bring it back, fruitlessly.  
“Uh,” they trailed off, turning their attention to the divesuit folded neatly on the fabricator tray, “Gonna have to follow you, make sure you’re not breaking any rules, stealing any shit, y’know.”  
“You a guard, huh? Security? How do I know you’re who you say you are, huh?”  
“I have my id.”  
“Where?” Gordon didn’t expect the demand to come out with such force, nor expected them to actually respond in a meaningful way, but they looked down at the protective vest, grabbing a piece of laminated card between their finger and thumb, and held it out for him to see.

The card had a poorly printed Alterra logo, scuffed and faded, and in bold print next to that sat the word “Benrey” and nothing else. Gordon snorted into a round of laughter, staring at the card with a mix of pure relief and bewilderment.  
“Benrey. That’s your name?”  
Benrey nodded, faltering into a smirk. He was glad the nature of the situation wasn’t lost on them.  
“This looks so fake, holy shit,” Gordon composed himself, reaching to get a closer look at the card, stopped when Benrey let go and let it snap back to their chest, connected by some sort of thin spring.  
“It’s not. I’m so legit, actually, top... employee of the month.”

Gordon left to give Benrey some privacy, trusting them to not somehow compromise the lifepod in the short seclusion. The kelp forests to the north were his destination, to reacquire the vine samples needed for fiber mesh. They could be used for medkits, and with the divesuit requiring a number of rolls, he really needed to stock up again. At his first opportunity he’d snatched one of the larger fish, the ones with huge eyes that he’d nicknamed Peepers, as a safety precaution. The Stalkers were aggressive, territorial predators, and would gladly sink their teeth into him if they could, but they were easily distracted by something they deemed a lot easier to bother with. Hence, holding onto a small prey fish proved beneficial, and even seemed to keep the Stalker relatively tame for a short period, as if they recognised that he’d fed them. Perhaps the life here was more intelligent than the marine life he’d studied before.

Perhaps they could be domesticated, at least to some extent. They, and the explosive bastards in the cave systems, had been the only dangers he’d really met so far though, which made sense. A large group of herbivores preyed upon by a far smaller set of predators, a balanced and healthy ecosystem. He thought back to the planet scan, leviathan lifeforms passing through his mind as he cut a stalk of creepvine. Were they all like the reefbacks? Peaceful herbivores, simply too huge to warrant attack by the smaller predatory fish. Or were there great beasts out there, serpents capable of eating his lifepod whole. Gordon shuddered at the thought.

At least the death would be quick, his mind supplied, and he swore into the mouthpiece as he slipped and dug the blade of his knife into the palm of his other hand. Staring, dumbfounded at his own carelessness, at the tear in his suit and the slowly drifting cloud of dark brown in the murky green water, Gordon realised his time was up. The Stalkers might have been intelligent, but the smell of blood was the smell of blood. All instinct. He kicked back, thankful of his decision to collect more of the creepvine. Benrey should have changed into the divesuit by now, too. Gordon really hoped they had. 

The hatch stalled for a second, Benrey had been standing on it, and Gordon lifted himself into the lifepod. Benrey had, in fact, actually changed into the divesuit. They looked good in it, Gordon thought, busying himself with the fabricator. They were still wearing the helmet though, and Gordon’s eyes flicked to it.  
“Not very aerodynamic with that on.” He said blankly, dumping the creepvine unceremoniously onto the fabricator shelf before turning to face them. They shrugged, lifting a hand to touch the brim, clutching at it.  
“S’it stuck? What?”  
“What?” They replied, matching his tone.  
“The helmet! It’s gonna clog up with water.”  
“Woah, what- what happened to your hand?”  
Gordon looked down at his hand, pressed against his hip, noticing the stain that had managed to make its way through the fabric of the suit and coat his fingers red.  
“Slipped,” he mumbled, unlatching the medkit box on the wall, digging out a spool of bandage and some wipes. He kicked the discarded clothes out of the way as he sat down in the chair, Benrey watching him with wide eyes and following, taking the opposite seat.

“Anyway, don’t switch the subject. Helmet’s gotta go too, dude.”  
Benrey cooed, bouncing in the seat on their palms, “Aww. We on ‘dude’ level already? Woah.”  
Gordon chuckled, running his (not bloody) hand through his hair, catching his fingers on a number of knots.  
“Yeah, sure.”  
Benrey removed the helmet, cascades of jet black hair falling out from an apparent pocket dimension, considering the sheer volume. It was damp, clinging to their face and divesuit, and the thick fringe covered their eyes. They held out the helmet, face down like a bowl, and Gordon took it, staring at the pool of water that sat at the bottom.  
“Holy shit.”  
They grinned, barely visible, all too sharp teeth exposed. It reminded Gordon of the Stalkers. 

“H-Hello?”  
Static erupted from the radio, the red light flickering on. The two snapped to look at it, Benrey pulling back their fringe.  
“Is.. Is this thing on? I n-need help.”  
Gordon scrambled to his PDA, ready to note down the coordinates if they didn’t record.  
“I’ve got a, uh, l-little base going b-but the fish d-down here keep at-attacking.” As if on cue, a loud, metallic, bang came muffled through the speaker.  
“C-come get me, please?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for the support on this :D I'm so glad other people love this combination as much as I do! Also I will continue ending chapters with radio broadcasts what else do you want from me ;3


	5. Jellyshroom Caves

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This wasn't meant to be 3k but :3 hope u like

Benrey was a walking PDA, despite not seeming to have one. They just.. knew.. the recipes for tools Gordon didn't have in his blueprints, building the man a scanner and setting up a small chain of floating lockers that encircled the lifepod. They were helpful, despite their attitude, silently continuing the jobs needed while Gordon went out to collect more copper (it was always copper.) He'd often return to a cooked fish, or to Benrey waiting on the lid of the lifepod, smirking as they dangled whatever he'd been unable to find above their head.

The bang that crackled through the radio would replay in Gordon's mind whenever he realised they had more to do. The coordinates were corrupted, they didn't have an exact location of the trapped survivor, but after a number of exploratory dives in the direction of the broadcast, they had found the cave system. Trouble was, those caves, if the beacon was accurate, said the bottom sat about 260m below the water. They couldn't dive that, not with their current equipment, even with spare oxygen tanks. The pressure at that depth could cause serious problems if they didn't have some form of protection either. 

Those scouts had brought something good though: the knowledge of a series of wrecks not too deep into the red grass fields. Seamoth bays. They’d found the blueprints for the mobile vehicle bay in the kelp forests, and since assembled it, only to find that they unfortunately did not come pre-loaded with the vehicle data. It was a difficult dive, spread over a few hours- or more, the cycles on this planet were short- but Gordon had managed to scan enough of the crashed ships for his PDA to replicate the blueprints.

In that time, Benrey had managed to collect the components, and it was only a brief moment of fabricating the ingots required before the two of them waited anxiously, treading water as the drones darted about a few metres ahead. 

Gordon was actually rather impressed with their attitude, not that he'd admit it to them, lest he give them something to brag about. He'd expected resistance, or something along those lines, from the self proclaimed guard. He appreciated it, very much so in fact, but after their first conversation it felt wrong in some way. Well, Gordon wasn't one to challenge it, and so they continued watching the Seamoth fabricate before their eyes. 

The process finished with a sudden silence, filled quickly by the gentle waves. The absence of the dull electrical humming was odd for the moment that lasted far too long as the Seamoth dropped into the water with a resounding slap. It sank a few metres down from the force before the internal power switched on, and it halted, hovering in place. Gordon climbed in first, planting himself in the seat and wrapping his hands around the control unit. He'd not had training with a Seamoth, nothing official at least, but it was simple enough. Benrey's foot kicked hard into his waist as the other clambered in.

The Seamoth is a one person vehicle. While Gordon and Benrey could both fit, it was neither comfortable nor functional with Gordon, the taller of the two and the driver, having to bunch his knees up to his chest. It was that or have Benrey sit in his lap, which was not on the table, even if it made the situation more comfortable. He'd shut down their suggestion immediately, much to Benrey's apparent chagrin. They fit, and that was what mattered really. The beacon had dropped to 260m, and the Seamoth could only reach 200m before risking a loss of structural integrity.

"I'm thinking," Gordon started once they maneuvered above the large cave entrance, "we sink the 'moth as far as it'll go, then dive from there."  
"It makes air, right?"  
"Yes." Gordon replied, still breathing, "We can use it as a base, of sorts, while we look. He can't be too far from the entrance, surely."

The entrance to the cave, the way the rock slumped like it had been liquid at some point, looked vastly different to the soft sandstone around it. It was dark, basalt black, dripping over itself like water frozen in time. The Seamoth ambled past, Gordon keeping it slow, wary of the narrow path. Pink, luminescent mushrooms took root anywhere they could find purchase, a different species than the ones nearer the shallows. These were translucent, far more spherical in shape, and glowed a lot brighter. Large coral plates also held on to the sharp cliffs, many supporting more of those mushrooms, a deep grey-purple colour with light, almost white tips.

The lifepod, cracked open like an egg, sat in two halves beneath them. The crossbeams of the Seamoth cast long shadows in every direction. It was perched on a natural arch, the drops either side likely where the beacon had ended up. The cave opened up as they descended a little further, nearly at the 200m limit already.

It was huge, an entire ecosystem living sheltered beneath the sandstone above. The smaller mushrooms that lined the passage above were clearly the juvenile stage of its species, as inside the shelter and space of the caves sat behemoths. Mushrooms, huge fungi, the smallest around 3m tall and a metre thick, topped with brightly glowing pink caps that went likely as wide as the fungus was high. They, and a number of other glowing plantlife, painted the caves magenta, the water purple with spores. It was enchanting, Gordon pressing his face against the window to get a closer look.

Most of the local fauna were coloured mauve too, schools of large-eyed fish, no doubt related to the peepers, swimming between the gills of the shrooms. Biters, as Gordon had angrily named them, followed them: small, leech-like predators with cookie cutter mouths of sharp teeth. Something stirred through the stained glass caps, though Gordon couldn't make it out from their position, and really had to hold in the temptation to move closer. They had a job to do, and Benrey's exit from the Seamoth reminded him of that harshly.

They swam up to the window, pulling a face through the rebreather before pointing down with a flourish. Gordon took a deep breath, the recycled air of the Seamoth stuffy in his lungs, and pulled down the mask of the rebreather. Benrey had already dove a good distance from him, aimed towards the wrecked lifepod, likely to scavenge or otherwise do whatever their 'job' entailed. Gordon checked his PDA, scanning for the beacon and held tight to the seaglide as he went deeper. 

He could really feel the pressure through the suit, a tightness settling around his lungs like two large hands clasped around his chest. It was also much warmer in the caves, and as the shallows were warm already, this made it near uncomfortable. The bare skin on his neck tingled as he dove deeper. He stopped suddenly, and hoped Benrey had too, at the echo of a loud boom travelled through the cave. A shockwave of heat followed.

It clicked in Gordon's head suddenly. The caves, or at least part of them, were volcanic. The heat, the booming, the sharp difference between the ecosystem here and in the plateaus above. Looking towards the source of the boom, the eruption, he spotted a bright blue light tucked against the cave wall, streaming around the corner. It looked not dissimilar to the power connectors in the Aurora, and that thought sent him swimming as fast as he could in that direction.

A power transmitter sat bolted into the rock, the powerline originating from a cluster of thermal power plants sat on a foundation, situated just above an active vent, the smoke billowing into the water like ink. The other line headed further into the cave and, after Gordon checked the levels of his tank, far too deep for him to reach in that trip. Switching on the light of the seaglide, he propelled back to the Seamoth, making sure to catch Benrey's attention as he passed them by. He could hear them through their mask, making an odd popping noise that he couldn't hope to replicate. 

They packed into the Seamoth, legs tangled in the small space.  
"You find anything there?" Gordon said, working to pilot the vehicle just a little closer to the transmitter. Benrey shook their head no, watching him intently.  
"D'you?"   
"Mhm, found his power setup. Need to be closer though, can't reach from where we were."   
"Cool."  
Gordon thought for a moment, turning to face them for a second before dismissing the thought. If they had found something and weren't sharing, perhaps it wasn't his place to pry.

They disembarked, Benrey following this time as Gordon followed the powerline. The surprise was audible between them as the base became visible through the fog. A large tower, three stories high, sat at the center, with a ladder shaped compartment on the side closest to them. It was highly reinforced, no doubt to offset the pressure at these depths, and the attacks that it's inhabitant had reported. Besides the Biters, Gordon hadn't seen anything truly capable of damaging a habitat like that, and shuddered briefly at the thought. It was tucked into a natural corner, and Gordon knocked on the hatch before entering.

"Oh!! Hello!" Rang the voice from the radio. In front of him was a tall man, much taller than himself, and much leaner too. He wore a yellow divesuit, a chewed up labcoat pulled on over the top, and had one hand stuffed in a pocket while the other gave a curt wave. He had a long face, deep lines under his eyes- (which were yellow also? Not hazel or anything like that, no, they were yellow) and a mop of dark, near black, brown hair. Gordon stopped staring, remembering to respond with a wave in return before he lifted the mask and cleared his throat.  
"Hey man! Shit, wow, you're doing pretty well down here, huh?"  
He laughed, a low chuckle of relief, and turned around to face the three story room, gesturing with his free hand.  
"Well, I thought I'd get some research in while I was stuck down here. The local predators and their relationship with the jellyshrooms is really quite interesting!"

Gordon swooned a little, following him into the multi-purpose room, which had been converted into a huge aquarium, filled with the fish he'd seen out in the caves and a small, eel-like fish. It was bright purple, marked with deeper stripes and a pale beige underbelly. It had large, downward pointing mandibles, a bright blue colour that stood out from the various hues of pink he'd come to expect in the caves.   
"Her name is Cranberry! I found her as an egg in one of the jellyshrooms!"   
"Oh! Your name, dude?" Gordon asked, suddenly remembering, "I'm Gordon, Dr. Freeman."  
"Dr. Tommy Coolatta!" Tommy beamed, holding out his hand, which Gordon took happily and shook.

"Oh man, it's so good to talk to someone who actually talks back in sentences," Gordon breathed out, laughing nervously. Tommy tilted his head, looking much like a puppy, and looked past Gordon.  
"Are there more of you?"  
Gordon frowned, turning to face Benrey, who apparently hadn't followed him inside.   
"There should be. What- Where are they?"  
"These caves are dangerous Mr. Freeman, we should look for them!" Tommy bounded towards the hatch, only halted when Gordon threw out a hand.  
"Wait! Wait! No, no, you uh, you stay here and get your stuff together, okay? Figure out what you want to do with uh," he gestured to the habitat as a whole," this."  
Tommy nodded, stepping aside.

Gordon launched himself into the water, using the seaglide to spin around, surveying the surroundings for any sign of Benrey, or a struggle. They weren't in the Seamoth, that he could see, so he turned to the section of cave next to the habitat. A hiss rippled through the water, a sliver of fear running down his spine as he heard the same popping noise Benrey made earlier, far more distressed than before. The tail of a large serpent caught his eye, disappearing into the trunk of the jellyshroom closest to him.

He flicked out his knife, wishing that Alterra allowed them to fabricate weapons, and moved forwards as quietly as he could. It was clearly an adult of whatever species 'Cranberry' was, long lithe body marked with the same stripes and colouration, just twice (if not more) as long as the Seamoth. It hissed again and Gordon felt the vibrations run through his body. Peering into the trunk of the mushroom, he could see the blue lights of Benrey's divesuit, the body of the snake wrapped around them in a suffocating coil. There was blood, yellow, clouding around them as Benrey struggled, body half limp.

He caught their eye, catching the glimpse of fear, and sprang onto the creatures head, wrapping one arm around it's jaw and his legs around its neck, slamming his knife into the shrieking flesh as hard as he could. It loosened its grip on Benrey, instead flicking about to dislodge Gordon, to little avail. He didn't want to kill it, but he continued to attack until Benrey moved, looking around confused for a moment before kicking up, pushing themself past Gordon and out of reach. Gordon clenched his jaw and rammed the knife one last time into the serpent's skull, hoping to stun it long enough for him to swim away and find safety in the habitat. The creature, though, stilled and stopped thrashing, ceasing its movement completely.

Gordon stilled too, looking down, paddling in place as the serpent slowly drifted down, leaving him treading through the yellow blood that he hoped wouldn't stain his suit. A voice pulled him from his thoughts, launching his mind into a far more frenzied panic.  
"Thirty seconds oxygen remaining." Voiced his PDA. 

He span in place, guessing the distance between himself and the habitat, and between him and the Seamoth. The habitat was closer by a margin, and he kicked towards it, not bothering to dig out the seaglide from his inventory, time precious. The hatch opened for him and he collapsed to the floor, taking greedy gulps of air once he realised he'd held his breath.  
"Mr. Freeman? Ah-are you alright?"  
Gordon nodded, steading himself with a hand on the wall. Benrey stood to Tommy's side, watching him with almost matched concern in their expression.  
"Y-yeah. Yeah I'm good. Holy shit."

"We, uh, we leave? Now?" Benrey mumbled, leaning against the hatch as Gordon and Tommy finished collecting his things, or at least what could be taken. Gordon looked up at them.  
They'd been silent since they got into the habitat, pinprick pupils betraying their calm expression. They'd nearly died. Gordon didn't feel as bad about killing the crabsnake now.  
"Yeah, I think we're good. Let's get you," he nodded to Tommy, wrapping a duffle bag over his shoulder," Back up to the lifepod."   
"Lifepod? Do you- Do you not have a habitat?"  
"I was meaning to ask how you built this."   
Tommy held up a tool, branded with the usual Alterra colour and design, letting the two see before he packed it away again.  
"Habitat builder! I'll send you the blue- blueprints once we're at the surface!"  
Gordon nodded.  
"Actually, I uh.." Tommy trailed off, looking into the aquarium room," Could I borrow your, uh, your knife?"  
"Wha.. What for?"   
"Don't wanna leave this place all.. uh, all functional. See- seems mean to all the fish."

Gordon and Benrey stood by the hatch, ready to open it on command, while Tommy stood by the window he'd just constructed. He steeled himself, holding the knife in a tight fist before drawing it back, stabbing the knife into the thin fabricated glass. It went clean through, the knife plugging the hole as it penetrated, and Gordon opened the hatch. Benrey left first, kicking off towards the Seamoth, while Gordon stood waiting, seaglide at the ready. Tommy span around, opening the small hatch on the aquarium before leaping towards Gordon, ripping the knife out of the window as he passed and the two propelled towards the Seamoth, spurred on by the violent creaking of the seabase as it began to fill with water.

If the Seamoth had been cramped before, it was now ridiculous. Tommy folded to one side, Gordon to the other, Benrey in the pilot's seat, and bundles of equipment and materials spread about them. The vehicle was certainly slower on the trip back, but it still moved, and Gordon was rather glad for the decreased speed as Benrey struggled with the controls. 

Legs aching, and a promise made to construct a habitat once they woke up, the three piled into the lifepod. A bottle of water was passed around, Benrey taking a bit more persuasion to drink this time around. Tommy fell asleep quickly, position certainly uncomfortable, not that he seemed to mind, leaving Gordon and Benrey awake, sat not quite either side of the lifepod from each other.

"Are you okay? It's okay to be scared or whatever, right? You could have died back there." Gordon stage whispered, shuffling a little closer to them, going to lean a hand on their shoulder before stopping, hand awkwardly poised in the air. Benrey said something under their breath, sliding across to meet him, bumping their shoulder into his hand. Gordon sighed, running his thumb over the divesuit in a manner he hoped was comforting. They were side by side, Benrey wiggling a little before resting their head against Gordon's shoulder, moving his hand to rest between them. Gordon gasped, not complaining. The contact was nice. The contact was really nice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again,, thank u all for the comments I love readin them and I love you for reading!!! Tommy is rlly fun to write and I've had the scene of him wrecking the base in my head for a while so this was :chefs kiss: to write


	6. Drive Core

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took a while I rewrote it 3 times and truthfully I'm still not happy with it! But it does what it needs to do. Thanks again for all the comments they mean so much!!!

Benrey woke up in the middle of the night, surrounded by the gentle breathing of their colleagues, far too enclosed. They stood up, shakily, one hand tight around the ladder while the other pressed firm against their side. They ached horribly, not that they'd admit it, or let the others know. The top of the lifepod provided a notion of privacy, which Benrey was keen to find. They enjoyed the company, but to have one of them discover they were injured? Out of the question.

Benrey ascended the ladder quickly, shutting the hatch behind them as quietly as possible. If either had stirred, they hadn't noticed their absence. They sat cross-legged, watching the waves as they struggled with the zipper on the wetsuit, arms bent awkwardly around to reach. They caught it after a few tries, pulling the suit away and off of their arms, pooling the stiff fabric around their waist. The bruise was violent, the deep purple contrasting harshly against their pale skin. It was larger than their hand, Benrey found, fingers barely touching the area.

It started just above their bottom rib, the deep thrumming splotch stretching down to the top of their pelvis, banded around most of their right side. The crabsnake hadn't bit them, but it still managed to do some damage. Benrey hissed as they put pressure on it, cold hands a brief relief before the touch began to burn.

"You out for some fresh air?" Sleepily slurred a voice from behind them, Gordon's, as the hatch opened. Benrey jumped, snatching at the fabric to pull the suit back on, stammering.  
"Yeah, uh, no? You two snore big loud, real uh, reaaaal annoying."  
"Why you 'ndressed?" Gordon sat next to them, eyes squinting to see, "Too hot?"  
"Yeah I'm super sexy."  
Gordon chuckled at their response, glancing over to them, not wanting to look like he was staring (which he wasn't, it was dark and he'd left his glasses in the lifepod: he couldn't see shit.)

"So what're you up for? Baby Freeman doesn't wanna be alone?" Benrey teased, hoping to appear as normal as possible to the other, who looked at them disapprovingly.  
"Came to check on you. What's that?" He lifted a hand to wave over the bruise, or what could be seen peeking out over the bunched up wetsuit, "you hurt?"  
"Whaaaat? No, obviously. I'm way too, uh, too strong to get hurt bro."  
The concern on Gordon's face plucked at Benrey's heart in a way they didn't appreciate, and they slumped back a little.

"You wanna kiss it better?"   
Gordon cackled, head thrown back as Benrey flashed him the bruise.   
"Sure, why not."  
Benrey froze, staring at Gordon, who choked back another bout of laughter.  
"I'm joking! I'm joking, dude."  
Benrey spat out an orb, a pale blue which tapered into a rich deep green.  
"What-"  
"I can read that!" Tommy's head, hair fluffed out, popped through the hatch.  
"Read what?! You're awake?" Gordon yelled, staring at the orbs as they faded.  
"Sky to peacock means 'that was a shock!"  
Gordon fell back, laughing through deep wheezy breaths, resting his hand over his eyes.

Orange crept over the horizon, painting the ocean in sunrise hues. Gordon's PDA was a steep contrast, spilling blue light over the three slumped over the top of the lifepod- a tiny white dot in that vast ocean, shadowed by the creaking hull of the Aurora. The blue light snapped to red.  
"Warning." The automated voice was loud, jolting Gordon awake.   
"Local radiation readings suggest the Aurora's drive core has reached critical state.  
Quantum detonation will occur within 2 hours."  
"What? What the fuck?" He rasped, holding up the PDA, as if it's cracked screen would give him any more information.  
Benrey groaned next to him, shifting their shoulders about until something popped. Gordon shook Tommy's shoulder, frantic eyes meeting Benrey's for a second, and held the PDA towards him, open on the messages. He blinked awake, craning his neck to glance at the screen.  
"That's not- not good," he said, letting his head loll back onto the metal roof.  
"Damn, that uh, that real sucks huh? Gonna go boom? Ship go bwawa?" Benrey added, zipping up their wetsuit as slowly as possible, focused more on the sound than their words (Gordon thought.)  
"Ship go bbbbbb." Tommy muttered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ship go bwawa??


	7. All Systems Online

With the materials they'd managed to hoard over the last week, using the planet's own solar cycle (which Gordon had realised rather quickly was a lot faster than Earth's), constructing additional batteries for Tommy's habitat builder had been a breeze. The materials for the actual habitat however, proved a slight harder to come by, if only by the sheer quantity. Going out for more was out of the question, the three anxiously awaiting the predicted detonation of the Aurora's engines. 

Until then, they'd settled with a small tube compartment, a hatch for access and two solar panels to provide power. A temporary base, something at a distance below the water in case of any falling debris or shock waves that could threaten the lifepod. Tommy had taken the scanner from Gordon, documenting the wildlife of the safe shallows into his PDA, promising to build himself an observatory and a new aquarium once they were safe. Benrey bided their time as vapidly as Gordon expected, sitting on the roof of the lifepod and just staring. Their eyes were fixed on the Aurora, blinking so rarely it looked more like they had to remind themself to do it.

Maybe they were scared, Gordon reasoned, watching them from the water. They seemed to be a little more upfront with their feelings now, after the crabsnake, and he didn't blame them. Stowaway or not, the Aurora was as much their home as it was his. Watching it explode and decay, let alone the insane risks the explosion could pose, shook him in a way he couldn't quite place. Terror, most likely. Still, there was nothing he could do, and so he vanished under the waves to give chase to a nearby school of bladderfish.

There was nothing to do but wait. Tommy's PDA was placed between them as the countdown began, his a lot more accurate than Gordon's. Benrey was off to the side, leaning against the habitat wall and picking at the fresh bandage around their waist. The bruising had faded considerably but after apparent picking had caused the area to bleed, Gordon had forced them into wraps. They had on their old button up, if for a bit of privacy until they were trusted to not open their wounds.

"Emergency."   
Three heads snapped to stare at the PDA, Tommy flinching as the sound of a distant boom echoed around them.  
"A quantum detonation has occurred in the Aurora's drive core."  
"Shit." Gordon spat, stumbling up to hover near the hatch, "I- we, we should watch this."   
A second explosion rocked past them, reminding Gordon far too much of those dire moments onboard the Aurora as it went down. Tommy looked at Gordon and the habitat, eyeing the way the titanium walls warbled around with the force of the preshocks. 

Gordon didn't wait for his colleagues, swinging through the hatch and paddling the relatively short distance to the lifepod, deftly climbing to sit on the top. Eyes blinking away the sharp sunset light, he wasn't surprised when the lifepod shifted as Tommy and Benrey joined him, sat either side.  
The Aurora was smoking horribly, the sky full of what looked like clouds, if you weren't aware of what caused them. Electrical snaps and sounds not unlike cable snapping rang out from the ship as the two PDA devices, in an eerie synchronisation, counted down at once.

"The reactor will reach a super critical state in T- 10,"  
Tommy's hand gripped at Gordon's.  
"9,"  
Gordon's gripped back.  
"8,"  
The broken PDA echoed Tommy's.  
"7,"  
It seemed so silent considering the crescendo of noise that billowed from the Aurora.  
"6,"  
Benrey closed their eyes, head staring down at the lifepod.  
"5,"  
Gordon thought about Joshua.  
"4-4-4,"  
They all flinched at the repetition, Benrey's eyes forced to fixate on the distant wreck.  
"3-3,"  
"Fuck."  
"2,"   
The final number wasn't audible over the rush of air, the moment of calm before the nuclear explosion shuddered and seized the hull, the thick metal looking to vibrate before a violent tephra of fire plumed up from the ship. Any metal caught in its way disintegrated instantly, too hot to melt, producing fumes of thick, black smoke that clouded the area like an umbrella, spreading thinner as it climbed. 

The shockwave hit them next, jostling the lifepod with a short barrage of harsh waves, enough for Benrey to grab at Gordon's shoulder for balance. The quickfire ticking followed that.   
"Yo it's uh, it's like call of duty when you blow up the map," Benrey mumbled, watching the PDAs with unease.  
"It's radiation- a uh, a Geiger counter," Gordon said, panicked brain somehow realising what Benrey meant.

"For your convenience the radiation suit has been added to your blueprint database."  
"Thanks!" Tommy smiled, always polite, and shared a look with the two, nodding back to the habitat.  
"What does it need? I'm sure one of us can venture out a little if we're missing something."  
Tommy flicked through the display, glancing at the water every few seconds.  
"Need more of the vines, needs mesh, enough for the three of us."  
Gordon nodded, offering a look of 'come with' to Benrey, who too nodded, and the two dove into the dark water, headed towards the bright bioluminescence that wavered in the near distance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kinda short chapter again but it's just getting through this plot point, we get into the meaty stuff next. Two new discoveries for the crew soon. Probably not the ones you think :3
> 
> Again!!! Thank you all so much for the comments you're all so lovely and it really makes me wanna keep going with this! ❤️❤️


	8. Structural Integrity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This took a while to get out mostly bc you can only describe this stuff so many ways

Benrey shouldn't have been allowed to pilot the Seamoth. 

You'd think Gordon would have realised this by now, clutching at Tommy's shoulder, eyes shut tight as Benrey launched the seamoth out of the water like a dolphin. They'd made some upgrades to it, built a moonpool. It was still cosy, but the three now fit comfortably in one seamoth. 

Wait- let's go back a few hours. 

Components collected, the three had suited up in the radiation gear. It wasn't as stretchy as the regulation divesuits, the lead interwoven into the fabric making it snug, tight around the chest and waist. Then there were the helmets. Regulation divesuits came with goggles and mouthpieces that would connect with Alterra mandated oxygen tanks. Radiation suits, and it does make sense really, were full body. Thick gloves, not enough to be restrictive, but still a far cry from swimming through and feeling the water on bare skin, and large bulky helmets that covered the entire head.

Benrey had cackled, pointing as they descended into breathy laughter, when Gordon had put the helmet on. Gordon found himself smiling, despite himself, half heartedly glaring at Benrey. He had to admit, the helmets looked ridiculous. But he'd rather look odd and bump his head a few times than suffer from radiation poisoning.

Benrey had gone out scouting in the morning hours, towards the hull of the Aurora. They'd found fragments of an engine, part of the Cyclops submarine, at the fringes of the kelp forest and were determined to find more. The seamoth was fast and reliable, but not designed to be the main mode of transport for a group. A Cyclops could comfortably house five or so, with space for storage and food production, given they could find anything to grow.

They'd come back barely an hour later, ecstatic, practically forcing Tommy and Gordon into the seamoth, frantically speaking and stumbling over their words. The 'sweet voice', as Tommy had later explained it as, was able to pass through the glass of the helmet, a bright mint colour. Gordon didn't need a colour chart to read the excitement flowing from them.

This leads to where we left off, Gordon about to hurl clutching at a sympathetic Tommy, Benrey all the while whooping in the front seat as they yet again launched out of the water. It was getting ridiculous, Gordon thought, until he spotted an unusual brown in the distance. Benrey slowed down, easing on the accelerator, eyes smirking back at their passengers.

"Benrey." Gordon genuinely couldn't believe his eyes as they approached, "did you find an island?!"  
"Uhuh. You're welcome."  
Tommy nudged past them, pressing his face against the glass, staring with a grin at the sight before them.

Right ahead stood a mountain, risen from deep water below into the clear air. Jagged slopes and sharp columns towered above them, topped and speckled with patches of lush green, grass and bushes, vines cascading down the rock face. Skyrays, (which Tommy theorised were closely related to the ocean dwelling rays, hence the name) nested and fluttered about the peak. 

Benrey directed them around the western side of the mountain, a knowing look set on their face as they focused. Gordon couldn't stop thinking about the vegetation. It seemed silly for a moment, but he realised that after almost a year of not seeing actual, living grass, he was a little happy to see some. Sure, they'd had planters on the Aurora but something about real, tangible plants had him bolting out of the seamoth the moment it hit the sand. He scrambled up the shore, removing his gloves and helmet (after checking his PDA quickly, he wasn't stupid) and all but dove into the soft grass.

It was amazing, the comfort it brought. Something so simple, just the feel of grass between his fingers, memories of playing with Joshua in the park. Joshua would be so grown up now. The trip on the Aurora was ten months, and he doubted that even any divines knew when he'd get off of this godforsaken planet. 

Tommy stood over him, pleasantly smiling, running his hand across a palm leaf. Benrey sat on the front wing of the seamoth, watching them both with clear confusion. Gordon sat up, legs outstretched, and wrung his hands together over his head, stopping only when he heard pops from his shoulders. He stood after, crossing the distance towards Benrey.  
"Bro why you so excited about grass, there's grass underwater. Thought you'd be way more interested in that."

Following their pointed hand, through a natural arch in the rockface, a structure towered into the sky. It was huge, taller than the mountain, and he wasn't sure how he missed it. Tommy padded over to join them, mumbling in astonishment as he too stared at the megastructure.

It was a rich green, almost blue, reflecting the light in a way that made the colours dance across the surface. The surface was rough, greebled, broken into segmented cubes and divots. It decreased in size as it reached higher, though not by much, tapering into a large slotted rectangle. A long, much smoother, building connected the tower with the island, panelled and bare bar a large, off-triangular opening, sealed shut with an eerie green light. The green lights were spattered about the panels as they climbed, random to the untrained eye, an impossible to decipher inscription. 

Gordon found himself walking towards it, not even noticing at first. It was alluring. He’d spent his university years studying alien life, fascinated by the ways that life adapted to conditions on other planets. They’d yet to discover sentient alien life, despite the mass expansion of the human race through the federation. Here, in front of him, stood a building. A huge building, of a material he couldn’t hope to identify, covered with intricate patterns and lights. This wasn’t just a small habitat; this had to be the result of a highly intelligent race, possibly even space faring. 

Something crunched under his foot as he neared the doorway, eyeing the small (but only small compared to the vastness of the rest of the construction) terminal next to it. Underfoot, snapped in half and scuffed with sand, sat a purple tablet. Testing it, he knew he hadn’t broken it. It was large, in scale with the rest of the alien structures, and if whole would have taken two hands to carry properly. He crouched, nudging at it with a finger before deeming it not a threat, and picked up each fragment. It was surprisingly light, despite its size.

“Mr. Freeman!”  
Gordon looked up, covering his eyes, smiling as he caught Tommy on a ledge above. He waved, pointing at something over the cliff.   
“Oh! You’ve got one too!”  
“What?”  
Tommy ducked out of view for a second, popping back up with a similar tablet; a whole tablet. A whole, glowing tablet.  
“Bring it down here!”

The tablets were identical, as the two suspected, down to the smaller carvings made into the carbon. The purple glow came from an emblem in the center, similar to the alphabet used by the federation, a dipped bowl shape, curving up like a glyph of a pitcher. It was beautiful in a haunting way, the moss and scuffs that sat around the etchings telling of its age. Gordon looked at the vines hanging from the thick cables that roped around the doorway, then back at the tablet. They had been here a long time.

“Okay but what does it do?” Benrey hummed, spilling out chartreuse sweet voice as they pleased, now that Gordon wasn’t flapping it away.   
“I think we- we uh, I think we find out!” Tommy had scanned the fragments, and was looking over the intact item, writing notes as he went. Gordon looked at the terminal.

The lights bore brighter as he approached, triggered by movement he assumed, and the terminal whirred with activity. If he was right, this hadn’t been used in decades, centuries possibly. He clutched the tablet a little tighter. Would it work as a key, like an ID card? There were clearly multiple of them. The panels shifted, the base of the terminal raising up a little taller as the covering parted, revealing a symbol, glowing the same purple as the glyph on the tablet. Gordon held it up to the terminal, letting go as a sudden pull drew the tablet into the input, matching the symbols up. The green light, the forcefield, flickered off as the terminal withdrew to its original position. Single use, it seemed.

“Hey uh, Doctor,” Gordon turned to meet eyes with Tommy and Benrey, who’d kept their distance wisely from the hum of machinery, “do you have a knife? Or do you want mine?.”  
Tommy flicked out his knife in response, twirling it on his finger. Benrey pulled their helmet from their inventory, their old helmet, and replaced the radiation suit’s helmet with it. How their hair fit under either, Gordon wasn’t sure, but he didn’t quite care enough to find out. The open doorway in front of him though, he was keen to explore.

It led into a corridor, ceilings tall and the path wide. They’d never seen metal like this before, nor the carvings. Tommy ran his free hand across them, pleased as they lit up beneath his touch. Whether they were aesthetic or some sort of language, they’d not know. Gordon noted that the areas Benrey walked on, or even touched with roaming hands, didn’t glow like they did with him and Tommy, and that the glow produced by his machinations were far dimmer than what Tommy’s would achieve. Perhaps it was due to their height? For the infrastructure, and the tools, to be so large, the race that built it must have been so too. Tommy was by far the tallest of them, and it made sense for now. He could think about that later.

A small room greeted them, though calling it a room wouldn’t be entirely accurate. It was a wider section of corridor, a raised platform in the middle with columns at each corner, though it looked to be missing one. It hadn’t been broken off, just missing from the design. They couldn’t be sure of the purpose. There were no tools, no signs, nothing to distinguish a use for the building as a whole. Gordon mumbled to himself about not taking the course on ancient alien life.

Past the small room, it opened out wider still. A balcony overlooked two ramps, both leading down below the balcony. A terminal, similar but clearly different from the door mechanism, sat in the middle of the overlook, a large glowing display shining from its interface. Gordon started forwards, unclipping his PDA and raising it up, before a hand pushed it back down to his side.   
“Mr. Freeman? Perhaps we should use, uh, use mine. Don’t want to lose anything that could be important!” Tommy bumped past him, gently, and brought his PDA up to the screen. The display disappeared, replaced with a blank screen and a violent, harsh warbling sound. Hands clasped tightly over three sets of ears, wincing at the sudden volume. It was impossible to discern, a mass of almost digital sounding noises, voices perhaps, overlaid over one another. Benrey hissed, Gordon catching the tail end as the shrill finally ended.

“Did you even get anything from that? Fucking hell.” He winced, leaning on Tommy to get a better look at the PDA screen.   
“Uhhh-”  
“That fucking sucked!”   
Hearing Benrey shout caused both to turn to them, the guard half-kneeling on the floor, hands still tightly packed around their helmet.  
“Oh-oh uh, are- are you alright Benrey?”  
They let out a bubble of sweet voice, a light brown, before standing up quickly. Dusting their knees off, not that anything was stuck to them, the metal looked sterile, they knocked the sweet voice away before walking ahead down the ramp. 

“Are they alright?” Gordon asked, really not sure on how to react, confusion and concern bubbling about in his head. Tommy shook his, shrugging.  
“We should probably follow them.”  
“Alright. What does the PDA say though, I saw something pop up.”  
“Uh,” Tommy brought it back up, reading as he walked, Gordon just behind him, “It can’t translate anything but it did some scans of the terminal?”  
Gordon nodded for him to continue.  
“It’s a solid state computer, must be used to store whatever we heard. It has to be information of some kind. It recognised patterns but we’ve nothing to decipher them with. Their hearing must have been incredible, or tuned to this somehow?” Tommy loudly gasped with a revelation, “Maybe they were cyborgs!”  
“Huh. Yeah.” Was all Gordon could contribute, following Tommy down yet another ramp. 

Luminous green caught his eye, a cube suspended between two trapezoid boxes, both engraved with the same symbol. As they approached, a pedestal rose up, lifting the cube with it. Gordon pocketed it for now. It hummed with power in his hands.

Another room, another bright green cube, another data terminal. This time, Tommy’s PDA was able to receive the data. Perhaps not all of it, but enough for it to make sense of the shrill noise that once again emanated from the box.   
“This one is about the inner workings of the building.” Tommy said, leaning against the terminal while the text on screen configured itself.  
“Finally.”  
“The metal, what this place is constructed from, it’s not from this planet. It’s an alloy of some sort, non-reactive and incredibly strong.”  
“Spacefaring!” Gordon interjected, excitement clear.  
“It’s likely powered by a thermal plant somewhere else on the planet, doesn’t give any location though. There’s uh, there’s this upper section and another section where the control room is, but we need to find an elevator shaft first.”  
“Found it.” Benrey peered around the corner, jabbing a thumb towards the corridor behind them. Tommy gave them a bright thumbs up, Gordon simply sighing and following their direction. 

“That’s not an elevator.” Gordon stared the space down. “Benrey. Hey? That’s a drop to our deaths buddy.”  
It was Benrey’s turn to sigh as they padded to the edge, turning heel to face the two as they leaned backwards. Gordon lunged forwards in any attempt to grab them, flabbergasted as they entered a slip stream of some sort. Anti-gravity, his brain supplied a moment too late as he fell into the current. Benrey, below him, was cackling, sharp teeth and all, hanging limp as it carried them down. Gordon hadn’t found himself getting motion sick until landing on this planet, and the inhuman movement method certainly wasn’t helping as he curled in on himself, closing his eyes as he descended. He barely registered Tommy leaping in above him, catching up fairly quickly.

The elevator ended, far too quickly for Tommy and Benrey’s liking, and far too slowly for Gordon as he stepped out uneasily, hanging onto the wall for support as he tried to compose himself. Tommy paced ahead, checking his PDA at the end of the hall.  
“This is- woah. That’s huge. It said there was a moonpool, I was eh-uh expecting something like ours,” he laughed nervously, stepping into the room.

If the high ceilings had dwarfed them, this room made the three grains of sand, floating aimlessly through an ocean current. Their entire seabase could fit in the pool, with plenty of space to spare. It wasn’t quite insignificance, but the feeling that ran down Gordon’s spine as he scanned the colossal room made him shiver, and keen to move on, spotting the doorway at the other end.

It lead into another numinous room, ramps leading far above them. To one side, another cube, which Tommy scanned this time. Ion cubes. Artificially grown, unknown to the periodic table, with an unprecedented amount of energy storage capability.   
“Likely used as batteries,” Tommy read aloud as they moved further in, halted by Benrey. They stood like a brick, knife drawn, staring down what appeared to be a display box. It contained what looked like an old Federation Rifle.   
“You got clearance for that?” They posed, deadpan.  
“There’s no-one there.”  
“Yeah, uh, No. I knew that. Can’t have weapons lying about the place. Against the uh- against the code.”  
Gordon nodded and sighed, brushing past them to investigate it further. It wasn’t a Federation Rifle, but was clearly designed in the same fashion. Made for someone human sized. Not whatever behemoths inhabited these halls. Were they varied in size?

Up the first ramp, up the second, down the open corridor, up the third. The room was massive, truly, and with no guard rails it was painfully clear how deadly the fall would be from anything above the first ramp. They were slow, watching the panels beneath them light up in various values. The third ramp lead onto yet another open corridor. This one though, held a pedestal at the far end, the familiar glow of a purple tablet held atop it. The artifact was pocketed, with the two scientists noticing the second closed door another level above. It was identical to the initial opening, the inherent magnetism pulling the tablet into the interface, the dimming flicker of the forcefield before it entirely disappeared. 

This one though, instead of leading into a wide open corridor, led into a narrow walkway, suspended ever so slightly above the floor. Arrow like glyphs lined the short barriers on either side, drawing them through. The room opened out as it turned a corner, though it still felt awfully claustrophobic compared to the vastness of the former two, columns taking up floorspace and the walkway limiting it even further. At the end stood a block, shaped in the way that every other part of the facility was, interspersed halfway through with a bright green core. The interface was clear on it’s design, a square button lit up in green, a circle indented above it.

They exchanged looks, Benrey showing nothing, Tommy’s face reserved in fear he tried not to show, and a look of fearful confidence on Gordon’s as he edged forwards, stepping closer to the power core. On approach, much like the Ion cube pedestals, parts of it moved in reaction to his presence, columns extending downwards from the ceiling, the core shifting upwards slightly. He gingerly extended his right hand, pressing two fingers against the button. Nothing happened for a split second, before the pleasant green switched to a furious red and the odd shaped bars beneath the interface shot up, a small forcefield freezing his hand in place. He heard Benrey call his actual name out, which would have made him laugh were he not locked into an alien structure, with no idea of how to react. 

The indented circle shifted, a long cable connected to it snaking out, horrifyingly sapient in its actions. It stared at him for a second, a sharp spike riveting from its center, before jamming deep into his arm. He bit his tongue, screaming suddenly at the sharp pain, grabbing at the arm with his free hand, trying to dislodge it. The spike withdrew, the parts retreating back into the core as it began flashing red. The forcefield subsided, and Gordon fell back with the shock, fist held tight over the hole in his arm. Tommy was at his side instantly, dragging him back and away from the core, which warbled angrily like the data terminals had. Both PDA systems lit up, attempting to translate the broadcast.

“WARNING.” The PDA’s automated voice read aloud, “Infected individuals may not disable the enforcement system. This planet is under quarantine.”

Gordon stared at the light blue of the screen, the red flashes of the core, the yellow of Tommy’s wetsuit, then at the steadily bleeding puncture in his arm, and passed out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, thank you to everyone who reads and kudos', and especially to everyone who comments! Words can't describe how much your support means to me. Love yall, stay safe, and uh oh gordos down.


	9. [ALTERATION]

His vision swims, and somewhere, deep below, so does she. Blue, ancient and forever, swirls in his vision, a moment of clarity in the vast expanse, the meeting of two currents for a brief moment.

"Who.... are you?"

Gordon fights to answer, stuck behind a wall that doesn't exist. An invisible barrier, trapped in an eggshell thousands of metres below the surface, waiting for it's chance to finally speak.

The lights fade.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> short on purpose :3c, ch10 is abt halfway done


	10. Mountain Cache

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry abt the wait friends!! this chapter was just kicking my ass for some reason !

He'd have jolted awake if he wasn't weighed down, a firm pressure on his shoulders holding him back. His head felt like cotton, stuffed to the brim, everything coming through blurred and dazed. The grass beneath his hands was soft and cold, the sea breeze gentle on his flushed cheeks, the skyray's calm chittering sweeping above.

The cold metal he expected couldn't have been further, and while he wasn't disappointed, it was enough of a difference for him to crack his eyes open. The twin moons gleaned over the island, clouds distant and few as always. Fuck- his arm hurt. Something moved around him, he couldn't place the direction, putting pressure on the still white hot wound. Gordon hissed through his teeth, turning his head to burrow into the soft surface.

The surface was very much not grass, nor sand or rock. He was propped up against something soft, yet strong, something that tensed with movement as he grimaced at the ministrations around the puncture in his right arm. It was alive and, as Gordon tilted his head upwards a slight, blinking his eyes open a little wider, was wearing that dumb helmet again. The brim shadowed their eyes, the faint moonlight doing nothing against the gentle blue glow of their irises.

They were pretty, Gordon had to admit, staring up at their face from where he was, limp in their lap. Oh gods, how much blood had he lost, thinking about that. Benrey smiled down at him, soft, unteasing- sincere for once. Gordon hoped the heat rising to his cheeks was only felt and not seen. 

"Hey." Benrey said, tilting their head slightly.  
"Hey," Gordon replied, voice raspier than he'd anticipated.  
"You're a clumsy boy, huh? Gotc-"  
Gordon's raucous laughter cut them off, effectively cancelling whatever statement Benrey started to make and replacing it with a doofy grin on their end and a wheezing giggle on Gordon's.  
"Gotcha self stabbed, huh? Gordon stabman?"  
"It hurt!" He defended, not that Benrey was attacking him at all, just poking fun at the, admittedly rather dark, situation.

The cotton cleared quite quickly as the smooth metal flooded back through his memories. Quarantine. 

Infection.

Trapped on this planet.

Gordon didn't realise he was crying till Benrey shifted him, pulling him further into their lap, a now free hand gently brushing at his cheek. It was horrifically tender, such a wild switch from their usual demeanor. He almost wanted them to say something stupid again, anything to get a rise or a laugh back out of him. The salt burned at the creases of his eyes, and he watched Benrey’s face fall as a sob tore its way out of his throat. They looked uncomfortable, if you were to describe it quickly, completely out of their depth.  
They moved, arms suddenly under Gordon’s, lifting him as they settled on their knees. No words changed between them, Gordon following their subtle lead, turning to face them, leaning fully into the hug. His arm hurt. Benrey only held him tighter when he hissed through a spike of pain. Head on their shoulder, looking blearily past at the brown cliff behind them, he took a deep breath and sighed.

“Where’s Tommy?”  
“Reconnaissance.”  
“He okay?” His voice sounded awful, hoarse and cracked. Benrey nodded. The rough material of their helmet was horrendous, usually, but for once it was grounding, a solid sensation against the side of his head.  
“He got a medkit for you. I, uh, I don’t… know,” they trailed off, head tilting towards where Gordon assumed the said kit was.

He slipped back, hand lingering on Benrey’s arm for a second longer than he reasonably should have. He’d blame it on blood loss later. He’d blame most of the day's actions on blood loss, really. For some of it, he’d be right. For the kiss he pressed against Benrey’s lips before slinking over to the medkit, he had no such excuse. They sat stock still, dumbfounded for a moment, before a sharp grin spread across their face.

“Kissy kiss for Benny? Huh?”  
Gordon unlatched the medkit, pulling out the bandage and bottle of fast-healer, some revolting smelling chemical concoction that managed to stick together wounds like they barely existed, dabbing the latter over his arm. He pointedly ignored them, smugly focused on wrapping the bandage. He heard them shuffle over on the sand. He looked up at that, sniffling away the last of his downpour of a breakdown, snorting at the ridiculous nature of the last ten or so minutes.

Maybe that was a better analogy than the cotton. A dense raincloud stuffed in his head, clear now that he’d had a good sob and an even better hug. He’d be fine until the next storm brewed, and it would. It always would, that’s how the damn water cycle works. Benrey wouldn’t mock him then either, he hoped. The hug was really nice.  
“It was a thanks.” He said out loud.  
“Wha- huh?”  
“The, “ Gordon watched their brain whir for a second, biting at the inside of his lip, “The ‘kissy’.”  
“Oh ew, no. No you’re not allowed to say that.”

Tommy rejoined the two about fifteen minutes later, panting and frantic, pointing at the mountain high above while he bounced on his heels. They’re up following him, Gordon with a slightly less bloody arm and Benrey with a skip in their step. 

The path was steep and twisting, ducking in and out of pockets and overhangs, small tunnels carved into the cliffs and caves, lit with old terminals that brightened as they approached. The structures were hauntingly beautiful. Ancient cables as thick as their bodies, some pristine and untouched while others toted possibly thousands of years of growth and life. 

Outcrops in the cave walls glimpsed the three, specks of bright gems and gold. The PDA told them it was diamond and, because of Alterra regulations, any materials harvested on this planet belonged to the company. Currently, they were at a three million credit debt. Gordon snorted, morbidly admitting that if they even made it off of the planet, there's no way he'd be going back to work with Alterra.

"Wouldn't you want to go home, though?" Tommy asked, pocketing another diamond cluster into his PDA's storage.  
Gordon kicked a rock near his foot, mulling it over in his head.  
"The only thing keeping me with them is my family. I'd up and leave, go leak some technology to another corp' but then I'd probably never see Joshie again."  
Benrey looked at him, eyebrow cocked, as Tommy continued the conversation.  
"Is that your, uh, your partner?"  
"Oh! No, no. Joshua's my son."  
"Woah, dadbod real, huh?" Benrey nudged at his shoulder, receiving a well meant shove from Gordon.  
"You didn't say you had a- a son! How old is he?"  
"He'd just turned four when I left for this job, so uh, thirteen months- oh he's five now- thirteen months plus however long we've been here. I'd give anything to call him.  
Tommy placed a hand on his shoulder, smiling at him with that kind sympathy.

They kept walking.  
"Do you have family, Tommy?" Gordon asked, filling the silence.  
"I'm an orphan!"  
Gordon's face fell instantly.  
"Oh my god, I am so sorry-"  
"But I have a dog! Ah-and she's the best dog, I made her perfect!"  
"Yeah?"  
Tommy waved his hands about.  
"Yeah! She's the perfect dog! Oh! We're here!"

'Here' was a yawning cave, natural yet clearly carved away at in some places. Skylights, pockets in the rock, let in the sweet night breeze and brought their eyes upwards. Cables ran about the ceiling, dug into the walls, running towards a central terminal similar to the one outside the megastructure on the beach. The ground was lush with greenery like the exterior, but the walls were oddly bare. The walls of the tunnels had been lined with mushrooms and moss, the walls here were solid rock, scraped and shaved of life.

A metal platform sat in the center, indented and that same cold colour as always. An archway rose above them, the metal a few metres thick. It's untouched by the plantlife around it.

"It opens up like the key, but the interface is different." Tommy explained, standing next to the terminal which, like he mentioned, opened up to reveal an empty slot. No key icon imprinted within it. The back was engraved with a familiar symbol. Gordon had seen it next to the ion cubes. He checked through his PDA, digging through until he brought out the green crystalline cube. Like he held out the key, he held out the cube to the interface. With the same magnetic pull, it tugged into place.

The colour flashed her voice back in his ears. Viscous green, light like fluid, rippling across the plane.

"Did.. did either of you hear a voice earlier?"  
"Huh?" Benrey pulled themself up onto the closed terminal.  
"Did I hit my head?"  
"Benrey caught you!"  
Gordon looked at them, internally grinning at the flush across their cheeks.  
"I heard uh- a woman? I've never heard it before."  
"Nope!" Tommy pressed his hand against the arch, "Are you sure you're okay?"  
"Just hearing voices! It's fine, I guess! Are we gonna," he gestured up to the arch, "are we going in that portal?"

Benrey jammed their whole arm in, gagging at the sensation. Gordon grabbed them back, hand on their shoulder.  
"Are you crazy?"  
Benrey just shrugged, staring at the portal.  
"Gotta uhhhh, gotta check it's all in order. Gotta be safe. OSHA compliant."  
"It all seems up to guidelines!" Tommy clapped.  
"Come on fuckin.. baby." Benrey grabbed Gordon's hand in one and Tommy's in the other and pulled them both into the portal.

They stumbled into another cave. Gordon, motion sick, spotted the light coming through the short trail worn into the rock, and bolted for it. When the others joined him at the cave entrance, he was stood, mouth agape in wonder at the orchard of fruit trees ahead of them, the engines of the Aurora smoking in the distance.

"There's… another island?"  
"Yoooooo haha."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kissy for benben? holdy hands with benben??? guess they're above the deep reef now huh... hm OHH also hello this au has a blog now!!! Subnautic-ai on Tumblr <3


	11. Until then.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a two part chapter! Split up for pacing reasons! Also the first,, real bit of canon divergence happens this chapter.

Tommy rushed ahead, swinging by the crook of his elbow around a nearby tree.   
"Look at these, Mr Freeman! They're incredible!"  
Gordon didn't appreciate botany the same way he did zoology, but the plantlife, the incredibly dense plantlife in front of him, certainly were incredible. Mushrooms, spore caps the size of his fist, coloured in almost neon pinks and musty purples. Shrubs, brilliant in hue, dotted between the larger trees. The trees were a good three or four metres tall at minimum, trunks of interwoven strands, billowing out into a softly glowing canopy of green leaves and a gorgeous blue bioluminescence. Further into the thicket stood taller trees, thin and familiar, like birch trees back on Earth, draping thin vines across the greenery. Large, broad leafed bushes dotted the more sparse areas, filling in any available space not taken by the packed treeline.

The soft blue light of the trees danced over the three of them. It was warm, the lack of sun in the sky seemingly unimportant as the humidity of the flora around them kept it pleasant. Gordon imagined how hot it would be during the day, almost happy to stick around for that- he never thought he'd miss the oppressive heat of the Mexican desert. The bioluminescence dyed Benrey and Tommy's hair blue, and he wondered how he looked for a moment, if the stray grey curls absorbed the blue light too. A lot of his crewmates had purposeful blue streaks in their hair, some fashion trend he hadn't caught on to.

"Really pretty." He mumbled, stepping up to the nearest trunk, running the back of his hand over the alien bark. Tommy beamed, smile reaching his eyes as he rocked on his heels, turning to navigate through the overgrowth. Benrey followed his movements, tailing behind the taller scientist as he darted gracefully between densely packed trees and stepped over tangled roots. Benrey wasn't as graceful, snagging their foot a number of times, each echoed by a hushed snort from Gordon as the trio emptied out into clear air.

The island sported two mountains, a steep valley between them, sheer cliffs dropping off into the ocean on the other face. Natural paths dipped in and out of the worn rock, lined with vines and ancient looking shrubbery. Above them, gentle clouds swirled around, a compliment to the hazey most that encircled the island. A streak of pink on the horizon promised sunrise in the near future and reflected lazily in something glass at the top of both peaks.

"What is that?" Gordon mused aloud, jutting a thumb unceremoniously towards the glimmer atop the mountain in front of them.   
"Huh? Looks like.. uh. Looks like balls."  
"Thank you," Gordon sighed, squinting up at it, "very helpful."  
"It's an observation deck, Mr Freeman. It's Alterra-made too."   
"How can you see that?"   
"D-do you need glasses?"  
"What! Freeman.. uh- blind? Can't see how many fingers I'm holdin' up?"  
"That's your middle finger, and I can see just fine. Let's just," Gordon offered out his own hand, "let's just get moving, okay?"

He hated the way the rock crumbled under his footing, hated the way the wind pulled and tossed his hair around as they climbed higher. The mountain path on the other island was wide, sheltered, carefully planned. This was worn in by people, much like them, with far less time on their hands. His knuckles were white raw as they reached the summit, pitted into any loose fabric he could find on the divesuit. He wasn't scared of heights, moreso the hundred or so metre drop into unknown ocean barely a misstep away. 

The bulkhead was open, handle and hinges bent in a terrifying feat of strength. Inside was relatively pristine, sans the thin layer of sand and dust that had settled over the titanium floor. A desk sat in the observation deck, a simple panel centered over the metal frame, neatly tucked in so it didn't rest on the large glass sections of the spherical habitat. A spinning chair was, to quite a juxtaposition, thrown on its back, scratches clear on the glass where metal had scraped against it. This area too was illuminated by a quiet blue, but not from any trees or flora, but by a lone PDA, cast flat on the abandoned desk.

"Degasi log #3, Bart Torgal:  
This is the first time I've seen sunlight in months."  
Gordon shuddered, leaning over the desk.   
"After all that time in the deep I'd been dreaming of it. Now that I'm back here, I'm finding it hard to enjoy alone."  
Tommy gasped quietly to his side, biting at the inside of his lip.  
"Father was right. We should never have left this place. We shouldn't have gone so deep. They do not want us down there."

Gordon's mind flashed to the heavy purple bruise that adorned Benrey's ribs, how that crabsnake would have killed them if he hadn't intervened; how the alien interface had pierced his arm; how the megastructure shot down their ship. Had it shot down this one too? The Degasi? The habitat was abandoned, cold and empty. Whoever recorded this, Bart, was long gone.

"Despite my best efforts, ill-health is taking hold of me. The visions are getting worse."  
His head hurt. Her voice. The deep, the deep, the unknown calling to him while he bled into her ocean. The disease, the one that caused the ancient aliens to quarantine this planet, had shot down and taken the lives of more than just the Aurora's crew. They were going to die here, alone and sick, unless they found a cure. 

"Until then... well, there's always the view."


	12. Well, there's always the view.

Tommy had a sixth sense, Gordon assumed, as he took his wrist in his gloved hand, a grounding pressure as he felt it hard to breathe all of a sudden. He tugged, guiding Gordon around the desk, sitting on the blue surface, looking out into the ocean. 

It went on forever. Deep blue of the night interwoven with sweet spatterings of morning glory, of orange and pink and purple as the sun rose above the waves. He could see the murky green of the kelp forests, the other island far off in the horizon, visible only by the shadow it cast across the tumbling brine. And, a tiny white dot in a universe of aquamarine, there sat the lifepod in the middle of it all. A tiny safe haven, the tiniest sign of life, despite the hulking wreck of the Aurora to its east, the tiniest drop of hope in an ocean of death and disaster.

"Gordon?" Tommy's voice was hushed, echoing faintly in the observatory, "we're gonna be, uh, a-okay!"  
"Are we?" He replied flatly, looking up into Tommy's definitely unnaturally yellow eyes.  
"Yeah! W-we're a great team! You're good at the plans and fighting, Benrey's quick and a good look-lookout, and I've got my brains and my tools! We're gonna get through this!"  
"Hey Tommy?"  
He hummed, releasing his grip from Gordon's wrist. Gordon took it back, holding the others hand in his.  
"Thank you. Really. I-I don't know- this is all horrible and I'm- ugh. I'm tryna say that I'm really glad you're here a-and-"  
Tommy's free arm pulled him into a lopsided embrace, balanced awkwardly over the desk.  
"Thank you."

"You lovebirds gonna come check this out or-"  
Gordon groaned, smiling, and tore away from the observatory, leaning against the creaking bulkhead to stare in the direction Benrey pointed.  
The island was an odd shape. The valley was split into two, a ridge separating either side. On the far side, covered in rubble and rust, was a habitat. Not a small observation deck like the two peaks sported, but a large, two story, habitat. It was half buried, a landslide reclaiming a multipurpose room for the island, but the rest was exposed and in seemingly good condition.

"Are- is that still inhabited?" Gordon asked out loud, thoughts racing through his head yet again. Benrey shrugged, fiddling with the clasp of their helmet. They looked at Gordon and Tommy, bubbled out a series of orange to white toned sweet voice, and kicked down the slope. Their raucous cackle overruled their combined shout of worry, deftly sweeping down the rock face like some sort of backwards surfer. It was when they hit a bump, perhaps a root or loose crook in the ground, that they tripped and launched head first into the dirt, just out of view. Tommy was already running, leaping down the mountainside, arms spread for balance. 

Gordon caught up, out of breath, a minute or so later. No thank you to running down a mountain he could barely stomach climbing, not for Gordon. Benrey was fine, because of course they were, and Tommy was sat on top of the multi-purpose room, assessing the damage. A window panel had been shattered by the weight of the rubble, leaving an entryway into the room. Half of it had been reclaimed by the earth, a desk half swallowed. Another PDA sat on it. An Alterra PDA though, not a Degasi one like before. 

"Should we be scanning this stuff?" Benrey murmured, kicking at a fragment next to their foot.  
"Yeah! I'm just, uhhh, finishing up something here. Grab some of those fruits, we can plant them when we go home."  
Home being the habitat.  
"Are we really just… stealing from these people?" Gordon picked up the PDA, shaking it free of dust before playing the audio recording. His eyes lit up in recognition, staring at the tiny speaker as if it could offer him any more information.

"Hello!" called out a calm, older voice, "If you've come across this PDA, we can assume that you're a fellow survivor from the Aurora crew. If you're not, well, then I'm probably quite dead!"  
Gordon couldn't hide his grin.  
"My name is Doctor Harold Coomer, I am- well, I was head nuclear physicist on the Aurora. With me is my associate, Professor Bubby."  
A crackle of disagreement warbled through the speaker.  
"Doctor Bubby."  
"Ah, semantics dear! Out here, we're all survivors! As I was saying, we're leaving this in the hopes of other survivors finding this island, and this habitat. The rates of growth and lack of materials means we're moving deeper, into a beautiful part of the reef below the island. It's frankly gorgeous if I do say so, such a lovely view. The beauty of nature indeed."

Tommy and Benrey joined him, the latter planting themself on the desk, helmet removed to brush the dirt off.  
"The coordinates should be attached! We hope to see you soon! If you reach us and we're long gone, no worries, life is a cruel cycle after all. Can't leave the inevitable waiting!"

"What's with you?" Benrey grunted.  
"Wha- what?"  
"Whuhuh??" They parroted, "your face is all weird."  
"I'm smiling, Benrey, because Dr Coomer was my supervisor onboard and I can not wait to see a familiar face."  
"It'll be like a-uh, a family reunion!" Tommy's external excitement matched his, not that he'd show how vibratingly happy the thought of seeing Coomer again made him. He settled for waving the PDA a little, as if in emphasis. 

The coordinates that fed into Gordon's screen were enough to send a shiver down his spine. 550 metres below them. Tommy's base had been half of that.  
"Oh huh, better get makin on that, uh," Benrey paused for a moment, "I gotta get the rest of the Cyclops stuff, huh."  
Tommy nodded.  
"So we're going there? Look, guys, I am as excited as you are to hear about other survivors, especially someone I know, but didn't we just hear another PDA telling us specifically 'not to go deeper."  
"Baby Gordon scared of the ocean?"  
Gordon sighed through his teeth, running a hand through his knotted ponytail.  
"Maybe I am? I want to go, I know we have to go, but," he put his arms out, one hand on each's shoulder, "promise me we're gonna be careful. No more bouncing along and pretending everything's fine. People, in the same situation as us, came here and died. I don't.. I don't want that to be in vain, and I don't want to lose anyone else, okay?"

"I promise," Tommy smiled, taking his hand and shaking it.  
"Whatcha gonna do if I don't?"  
"I will personally feed you to a crabsnake."  
Benrey groaned dramatically, throwing their head back with theatrics, and took his hand, holding it.  
"Fine. Fuckin.. rude ass friend, huh?"  
"Oh you'll get over it."  
They blew a raspberry, tugging at Gordon's hand towards the shore.  
"Our Seamoth is back on the other island, Ben."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GRAMPA TIME!!!!! again thank you so much everyone leaving comments they really make my day love u all so much
> 
> Edit (26/11/2020): hey, uh, as you can probably guess, this fic is discontinued. I just lost steam with the fandom and any projects I had with it, but this au is not forgotten! It'll stay up and I'm glad people are still enjoying this fic, completed or not.   
> Thanks for reading,  
> Gav <3


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